1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to safety devices for a motor vehicle, and more particularly to air-bag devices mounted in the motor vehicle. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with an arrangement of the air-bag device, which is suitable for protecting a passenger seated on a so-called co-driver's seat of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional arrangement of air-bag device will be outlined prior to making a detailed description of the present invention, which is shown in Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication No. 58-76344.
In the arrangement shown by the publication, the air-bag device is housed inside of a vertically extending instrument panel in front of the co-driver's seat. Upon expansion of the air-bag, a lid member provided on the instrument panel is forced to open permitting full expansion of the air-bag in the passenger room.
However, the arrangement shown by the publication seems to have been thought out without taking the need for compactness of the same into consideration. In fact, providing such arrangement on the instrument panel narrows the space inside of the instrument panel very much and thus makes provision of a glove box in the space substantially impossible.